Elizabeth receives comfort from an unlikely source, and Banastre learns of fairytales in space.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
It was late at night on an evening before the scientist had to work, and Elizabeth was still up. Her restless state had nothing to do with her anxiety for once. If anything, thinking only worsened her condition. No, it was cramps and nausea keeping the woman awake and sitting up on her couch!
She groaned for what must have been the hundreth time and held her abdomen tighter. Her monthly subscription to Lucifer's waterfall always came with harsh side affects for her on the first day. This was also the first month she had to experience it while living with men and that was a very awkward hurtle for her. It seemed silly in theory, but her face still blazed with embarrassment when she had to explain the purpose of the pads and tampons that William found under the bathroom sink. And that was only two days ago! At least today the symptoms were tamed enough so that she could hide that anything was wrong. Now that they were asleep however, that was when she suffered the most.
Elizabeth's closed eyes widened into saucers and her previously lethargic body sprang to life when her stomach complained even louder than before. The woman flew off of the cushioned leather and raced to the bathroom. Just managing to flick the light on in her frenzy, she squatted in front of the toilet. Elizabeth's shaking hands grasped gold strands away from her face while her stomach decided to purge out every offending morsel of food that she dared to put in the previous afternoon. She was lost in her misery, but a small part of her mind did subconsciously register the lean body kneeling next to her, and two hands that held the rest of her hair up and firmly rubbing her back. Her breath was ragged when she was done, the strong hand patted her between the shoulder blades and a lilting voice murmured near her ear.
"That's it, just breath. Deep breaths, now. Tsk, tsk, you poor thing..."
It was Banastre's voice. His hands continued to coax her, until her breath finally evened out and much of the nausea subsided until only dull pain was left. She found the strength to stand, aided by the man next who her. Worry was sketched all over his boyish features. She was certain that he must be thinking the worst, of the disease and death that raged in epidemics back in his time. She just managed to find her voice, though it was croaky and crackly.
"I'll--I'll be alrigh', Ban. They're just girl problems, okay?"
This conformation that she was not about to die did give Tarleton relief, but it also alarmed him at the possibility of another matter. He could only think of one other condition that would explain Beth's sickness and -- Banastre shook his head, both in denial and panic.
"Is it Tavington's?"
The woman's mind was still functional enough to get at what he meant, her face scrunched up as she stared a good few inches up at his face in indignation.
"Wha-- Don't be ridiculous! It's my... damn, what was it called back then?" Elizabeth moaned and doubled over, clutching the part of her abdomen that told her she has been standing for too long. Realization, and embarrassment, dawned on Banastre. He gently took her arm and led Elizabeth out of the bathroom.
"Good lord, it's that bad? I'll help you to your room so that you may lie down--"
"It hurts to lie down, I wasn't in bed because of that."
"Alright, alright, then..." Banastre supported her until they reached the leather structure in the living room. She carefully plopped down in the far left seat, her body curled in of herself and her arms crossed over the soft flesh of her stomach. He perched next to her, with very little ideas concerning what he must do!
Now, Banastre was not dumb or inexperienced, he had an idea of what ladies had to suffer during their monthlies. It was just that... he was accustomed to women dealing with them! Ah, but poor Elizabeth had no one of the fairer sex to aid her, not at this time of night. It was only he, and he could not leave her alone after the incident in the bathroom! He would not. Tarleton shuffled in his seat, far too insecure than what made him comfortable. He spent several moments fretting over her, and covering up his awkwardness by doing one of the things he does best: talking.
"Well, I feel the deepest sympathies for you my dear. Having to feel ill every month! How do menses feel, anyway? I hear the most awful stories..." He took only a miniscule pause, a blink and it could have been missed. "Nevermind, I don't think I want to know for certain. And somehow this pain is making you... sound different, Beth. Not just your voice quality, it's something else..."
"My accent, you mean." Elizabeth glanced up at him. "It's just my 'Oklahoman comin' out, like it does whenever I don't feel like coverin' it up."
Elizabeth actually didn't notice the trace of midwestern twang in her voice until Banastre pointed it out. It just slipped out sometimes when she didn't realize it. The way she talked -all aspects of it really- used to be popular target for ridicule, so it was no suprise that she usually did her best to sound 'normal.'She trained to use rounded vowels, carefully pronounced consonants, and slow pacing to prevent too much stumbling over her words. But whenever she was sick she never bothered with all of that, and the results made Elizabeth sound, well, very different.
"I believe I like it." Banastre's arm stretched across her shoulders and his chocolate eyes gazed down at her stout form affectionately. Elizabeth found herself smiling a bit.
"Well, at least someone enjoys this oddity of mine. Whenever Amy takes it upon herself to care for me she would keep callin' me a cowgirl." He was not sure what to say to this. His first instict was to ask her what on earth a cow-girl was, but the sudden manner in which she curled in on herself even tighter and rested her head against his shoulder told him that she has finished talking.
"Hmm. It's awfully quiet in here, don't you think? Might it help if I put on one of your recorded plays, as a distraction?"
Elizabeth nodded and Tarleton abandoned her only to search the stacks of plastic cases until he found one in particular that interested him. This container was much larger than the others- book of disks, really- decorated with a curious array of characters! A man made out of gold, a curious silver and blue creature, a dark figure in a mask, and a vast array of other people holding swords composed out of light. The wonderfully unusual display was complete with only two words, drawn in thin yellow lines.
"Star... Wars?"
"If you want to watch that, put in 'A New Hope' first."
The soldier searched through six disks, and placed the one she requested onto the ejected tray. Although he had very little knowledge of the vast collection of plays Elizabeth kept, he liked to say he has become an expert in utilizing the box that brought forth such wonderful imagery! He sat back down at his place next to Elizabeth while she fiddled with the control stick. But not before he switched the light switch to the blacklights, partially so that the film was more clearly seen and partially because he could not resist the ambiance of both of them being under the outer space that Elizabeth created on the ceiling!
"Good choice, by the way. This series is one of my favorites. I think you might like it as well."
"Oh? Well, it can't be that bad if you enjoy it."
Banastre chuckled and his hands somehow found their way around her once again. He was quite accustomed to Elizabeth recoiling or stiffening whenever he tried to touch her, but this time she did not. If anything, the girl leaned into the contact and allowed him to give some relief for her pain. He supposed that this silent permission was a rare opportunity and he intended to take it, even just to comfort her. For extra measure, he grabbed a blanket discarded on the far end of the furniture and wrapped the thick artificial fleece over both of them. He looked up just in time for the very start of the film.
'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."
Soon enough, Ban read the procession of paragraphs describing war between an evil galactic empire and a band of plucky rebels. He was quite enraptured at the procession, as well as the majestic fanfare of horns and strings. This mezmerisation only increased when the words and music faded away into a starry sky for only a moment. The only thing he payed attention to was the space battle that he could liken to pirates and the navy, then the chaos that ensued when the white armored foot soldiers boarded the smaller starship. Some war matters he was familiar with, but certainly not the usage of muskets that shot out red streaks of fire! And this beautiful princess was certainly no damsel in distress, even when confronted by the black metal mass that appeared to be the villain in this tale.
"You are part of the rebel alliance, and a traitor! Take her away!"
Well, Banastre could not really say that he disagreed with this Vadar fellow's motives as of yet, although the magic that he used to strangle people alarmed him.
Elizabeth's uncomfortable shifting was the only thing that brought him to the present. He briefly abandoned the plight of Artoo-Deetoo and See-freepeo to regard the lady with concern once again.
"Are you alright? Do you have to..." He trailed off when Elizabeth shook her head and tried to relax again. He took notice of the way she kept clutching at the fleshy areas that clearly turned into a battlefield within her. His hands found themselves grasping lower, slowly.
"May I? Allow me."
Elizabeth did allow him to help, albeit hesitantly. Ban gently applied pressure and warmth with one hand. The girl's belly was soft, and plump enough for him to knead and rub the pain away. His hand also moved to give her wide hips and thick thighs the same treatment, just briefly and occasionally enough to get away with it, before he continued to massage her abdomen.
He did this rather absentmindedly as he watched the events in the far away galaxy progress. He hissed in horror when the Tusken raiders attacked Luke Skywalker and the golden droid. He listened to the elderly wizard's description of his own deity, the force, with surprising fascination. Banastre found himself hating the empire just as much as the rebels when they cruelly demonstrated the power of their 'Death Star'on Leia's defenseless planet. He remembered only feeling a little relief at Elizabeth's pain starting to subside, as that was when the charming rogue, Han Solo, confronted and shot the green fish alien in the tavern. Much later, when the Millennium Falcon was pulled into the giant space weapon, he barely registered the weight of Elizabeth's body curled across his lap. It was far from usual for Banastre Tarleton to ignore the company of a lady, but the play he was watching was rather unusual as well. And he was hooked.
Finally, the rebellion celebrated their great triumph of destroying the empire's planet destroyer, and the former British officer found himself celebrating as well. Very surprising to him, as anywhere else he hated rebels. Still, he rooted for the side that possessed the boy on the journey of becoming a hero and a legend, much like the ones that a younger Banastre identified with the most when he grew up reading about Lancelot, Hamlet, and so many others.
"That was wonderful! It was one of the best stories I've ever heard! Shall we watch the next one?" Finally, Banastre looked down at Elizabeth, only to find that she had fallen into a peaceful slumber. Then he watched the clock. It was well past midnight, my how he's lost track of the time!
"I suppose that is a no, then." With that, Ban gathered the girl up in his arms and put her to bed. After he deposited the covers over her, he couldn't resist a soft stroke on her cheek and a kiss on her forehead.
"Goodnight." Banastre tenderly whispered at her bedside, before departing for his own room. "I look forward to watching more of this tale when you are better, my love."
Later on, Banastre and Elizabeth do find the time to watch the rest of the series, just the two of them. The girl simply couldn't resist; he was one of the very few people she knew that had unspoiled ignorance going in about Luke's father, and she had to be there to watch his reaction!
Wow, this took a long time to write. Sorry about that, but it's maybe one of the longest of these I've ever done! And it's a little too uh, wordy, for my liking as well, but then again Banastre was in this one! Enough said, I guess.